Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Diversity Cards: Let's All Play!

I have good news for you dear readers! I recently returned
from my last diversity training class, and I can honestly say that I’ve finally
seen the light! I passed!! And I am seeing things through a new set of eyes, so
to speak! I now realize that Western Civilization was set up solely to benefit
rich, white, men! Discrimination and bigotry are all around us!
Microaggressions are everywhere! The 99% of us that aren’t rich, old, white
dudes have been bullied and marginalized for centuries!

Anyway,
as soon as I got back from D.T., I went on easynotecards.com and accessed its
Culture and Diversity page like the instructor told us to do. It’s so cool!
They have, like, diversity flash cards and games…even diversity bingo! They had
a set of 387 diversity cards, each with a question and the correct answer to
that question. Here are some of my favorites:

162. True or
False

When we show ethnocentrism, we use our own cultural standards to determine what
is right or normal. (True! “Right or normal?” Like, who are
we to say. That’s crazy talk)

241. The spread of objects and ideas
from one culture to another is called? (Cultural
Diffusion. I got that one wrong. I
thought it was “appropriation.” I’ll have to ask my instructor)

251. Deborah Tannen’s research focuses
on the different communication styles of who? (Men and women. I got that one wrong, too. I was confused, because,
as everyone knows, there are 63 different genders, and I felt this question
marginalized the transgendered and non-gendered, etc.)

383. True or
False

According to the text, there is no optimal level at which we can stop
developing our diversity consciousness. (True!
Duh!)

386. Gradually, the term _____ has become more
inclusive and multidimensional. (Diversity.
Isn’t that cool, even the term “diversity” is becoming more diverse?!)

I bet you could play some really cool
card games using diversity cards! I mean, Go Fish, poker- even solitaire- could
be adapted to diversity cards. And these
could be so much more inclusive and less triggering than regular playing cards.
Earlier today I was thinking, in my increasingly flexible way, while looking at
a standard deck of cards. I can’t believe they can still sell these things!

Just for starters, the four suits are all marginalizing- or worse. Hearts? How
do they make someone who has lost a loved one feel? Diamonds? This implies
ill-gotten wealth at the expense of the poor! Clubs? Do we want to glorify a weapon, a baby-seal killer? Spades?
Really? Why not just bring back the “N” word? Why don’t we replace these four
“suits” with doves, white poppies, rainbow flags and peace signs?

What’s more, the four “2” cards could
be construed to mean that marriage between two people is somehow normative- and
preferable to- being alone or being in a polyamorous relationship. What’s so
bad about one, or three or four or five or…? And the Aces should be replaced by
something less offensive and overtly meritocratic. “Ace,” in the dictionary, is
defined as “a very skilled person; expert; adept,” and “a grade of ‘A,’ the
highest grade or score.” Talk about aristocracy! How shaming is that to those
who weren’t as lucky in life’s lottery!

There is also the fact that two of the
three face cards are male-themed…the jack and the king. Coincidence? I think
not! Moreover, jokers are almost always depicted as males, too. Don’t they
think anyone else has a sense of humor, dammit? Who can fail to see the blatant
misogyny in a deck of playing cards when 71.4% of the “gendered” cards are
male?! And rich, old, white males at that.

Even the names of traditional card games are scary and triggering.
Blackjack, Old Maid, Crazy Eights, and War? So we’re fine with mocking colored people, older women that
aren’t married to a man, and the
mentally challenged, all while celebrating
nationalism and coordinated violence on a massive scale? Deal me out.

Daily Trivia Quiz Answer

Today's Answer: Andrew Jackson. ("Poll" got so worked up before the service he apparently had to be removed from the premises, as he was cussing long and loud).

Q) What words appear on the front of the penny, nickel, dime and quarter, alongside the likeness of presidents?

A) "Liberty" and "In God We Trust"

An Ode To Life

Appreciate all you have, as it- and you- will soon be gone. Leave no heartfelt words unspoken, no sweet gesture incomplete, no act of love undone. Love your spouse with passion and abandon, your kids with patience and understanding but also a firm guidance. Love also the truth, no matter how hard. If pursued by enough people with enough courage, it really will set us free.

And don't forget, we didn't ask to be born. We didn't create ourselves. We are not gods. There is a higher power.

Fireworks of the Mind

Write It Up

Whence Shall Come Another?

True Then, True Now

"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."- Winston Churchill

Time Well Wasted

The power lies within your hands To do with what you may But the hourglass is filled with sands Of endless yesterdays